Apparatus for purifying water



{No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet 1. J. HABLESSING. i APPARATUS FOR PURIPYINGWATER. No. 402,224. Patented Apr. 30, y1889.l

@A f l (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2..

J. H. BLESSING.

APPARATUS FOR PURIPYING WATER.

No. 402,224. Patnte'd Apr. 30, 1889.

UNITED STATES' PATENT FFICE.

JAMES ILBLESSING, OF ALBANY, NEIV YORK.

APPARATUS FOR PURIFY'ING WATER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 402,224, dated April30, 1889.

- Application filed December 8, 1886. Serial No. 221,007. (No model.)`

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES H. BLnssING, of the city and county ofVAlbany, in the State of NewYork, have invented newand usefulImprovements in Apparatus for Purifying Vater, of which the following isa specification.

This invention relates to improvements on the apparatus for which'Letters Patent of the United States Nos. 352,943 and 352,944 weregranted to me on the 23d day of November, 1886; and the object of mypresent im-` provements is-to render the apparatus more efficient in itsaction.V vThis object I attain by means of the mechanism illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, which are herein lreferred to, and form partof this specification, and in which- Figure l is a longitudinal sectionof my apparatus; Fig. 2, a horizontal section at the line .fr oc; Fig.3, aghorizontal section at the line y y; Fig. 4, an enlarged transversesection through the center of the base and valvechamber for the-dupleiifiltering-chambers; Fig. 5, an enlarged longitudinal section of part ofthe base and the valve-chest for the chemical iilter; Fig. 6, anenlarged transverse section of the percolating-bed shown in Fig. 1, andFig. 7 a modified form of movable bars for said percolating-bed.

In the duplex filtering apparatus shown in Letters Patent No. 352,943,above referred to,

the valve for reversing the currents of water and the supply and waterpipes are all placed at the top of the apparatus, and it is obvious thatsuch an arrangement renders complete access to the interior of theiiltering-chambers attainable only 'after much difficult labor,involving the disconnection of pipes and other parts of the apparatus.VIn the present improvements these defects are remedied.

As represented in the drawings, A indicates the primaryfiltering-chambers, which are in cylindrical form with a dome-shaped tophaving an inlet-opening, a, at the apex. Said cylinders are preferablymade of sheet metal, and each is secured to a bottom plate, a', which isprovided with a recess,`a2. The iiltering-chambers A are Iinclosed inouter casings, B, which are made in two parts,.and are separable atabout midway of their height.

An annular water-way, b, is thus formed between the cylinders of thefiltering-chambers andtheir outer casings for the purpose of obtaining apassage for the water-currents to flow through, as hereinafterdescribed.

C is the base of the primary filtering-chambers. partition, c, whichdivides the filtered-water chamberc from two unfiltered-water passages,

d', and a waste-water outlet, d3. It is also provided with a valve-seat,D, in which is formed the induction-port's'd, (one for each of theunfiltered -water passages,) and an eduction-port, d2, which leads tothe wastewater outlet cl3. A slide-valve, E, is fitted to move on thevalve-seat D, and is of such length that when in its central position,as shown in Fig. l, both induction-ports d will be uncovered to permitthe water to iiow into the passages d on its way toward thefiltering-chambers. The valve E is provided with a pass-over passage, e,which, when the valve is moved to cover either of the inductionports d,will form a communication between the then covered induction-port andthe eduction-port cl2, through which the waste water will pass to theoutlet d3. A rocker-shaft, e', Which carries the arms e2 that engagewith said valve, affords the means for operating the latter whenoccasion requires. A valvechest, e3, covers the valve-seat D and valveE, and the inlet-pipe F conveys the water from the source of supply intothe apparatus. .Each fltering-chamber'A has a pipe, a3, which leads fromits bottom, and each of said pipes has its lower end secured into thehorizontal partition c. Said pipes form passageways for the filteredwater between said iiltering-chambers and the filtered-water chamber cin the base. Pipes G, having their upper end secured in the bottom ofthe outer casing, B, and their lower end in the upper side of the baseC, surround the pipes a3 and form annular water-ways g, one of whichleads from each passage d into the corresponding outer casing, B.

In the bottom of each filtering-chamber A Said base is provided with ahorizontal a percolating-bed, H, is fixed to cover the recess a2. Saidbed is preferably composed of parallel bars, of which there should be`two different series, one of which should be mov- Ico able, and theother may be either stationary or movable; but in the latter case thetwo series should be arranged to move in opposite directions. As shownin the drawings, said percolating-bed consists of the stationary bars 7Land movable bars h', the latter being arranged alternately withstationary bars, and fitted with sufficient closeness t-hereto toprevent the finest grains of the filtering-sand from entering thejoints, but so that the water will ooze through.

As shown in Figs. l., 2, and G, the bars h are adapted to receive aslight endwise movement, and for that purpose each is provided wit-h adiagonal slot, 112, in which the bar of a cross-head, l', engages. Thelatter is secured to the upper end of a vertically-reciprocating rod, I,which passes up through the pipe a, and to which motion is imparted bymeans of the rocker-shaft J ,whose armsj engage between the collars L"on said reciprocating rod, a-nd the arrangement. is such that by thevertical movements of the reciprocating rod I corresponding horizontalreciprocations of the bars 7L will be effected. lVhen preferred, thebars 71 may also be made movable, and by providing them with a diagonalslot, inclined oppositely to those in the bars h', the moements of thebars 7L will be made in opposite directions to those of the bars h.

As shown in Fig. 7, the movable bars h are pivoted at one end, as at 7i,to receive a vibratory movement from the reciprocations of thecross-head 1', as hereinbefore described.

By imparting a movement to the bars of the pcrcolating-bed I am ena-bledto keep the joints between said bars free from any deposit that wouldotherwise clog the minute passages through which the water oozes.

The filterin g-chambers A are partially filled with a granular filteringmaterial, preferably a moderately fine beach sand, and in order tofacilitate the cleansing of this material from the impurities depositedtherein each filtering-chamber is provided with an agitator that iscomposed of a vertical shaft, K, bearing a series of radial arms, k.Said shaft passes through a stuffing-box, h', at the top of the casingB, and a hand-crank or other appliance may be attached to the protrudingend of said shaft for the purpose of working said agitators. The lowerend of the shaft K has its bearing in a step, 7a', which maybe securedto the stationary bars 71, or other convenient part of thefiltering-chamber. Adischarge-pipe, L, is attached to the base C, forthe purpose of conveying the filtered water from the chamber c to anyrequired point.

The operation of the part of my apparatus hereinabove` described is asfollows: lVater under pressure enters the apparatus through theinlet-pipe F, and while the valve E retains its central position, asshown in Fig. l, the currents of water will pass down through bothinduction-ports d, laterally through the passages d, then upwardlythrough the annular water-ways g and l), and from thence through theinlet-openings a into both filtering-chambers A. Descending through thebeds of filtering material contained in said chambers, the water oozsthrough the joints between the bars h and h', and passes down throughthe pipes fr info the chamber c, from which the water, in a filteredcondition, can be conveyed fo any required point through thedischarge-pipe L. To cleanse the filtering material in either of thefiltering-chambers A, the valve E is moved to cover the induction-portd, which communicates with the filtering-chamber whose filteringmaterial is to be washed. By this movement of said valve its pass-overpassage e is carried into position to form a communication between thecovered induction-port (l and eduction-port d2, and when this isaccomplished the water will continue to fiow down through the filteringmaterial in the chamber, which is still directly connected with thewater-supply, and from thence into the filtered-water chamber c. Passingto the opposite end of said chamber the water fiows up through the pipe(L3, and then up through the percolating-bed and filtering material ofsaid filtering-chamber. By the upward flow of the water the lterin gmaterial is loosened up sufficiently to permit the agitators to berotated, whereby the particles are so displaced and disturbed that anyimpurities deposited in the sand will be readily carried off by thewater-currents, which will now pass out at the top of thefilteringchamber that is being washed. From thence the water passesdownward through the annular water-ways b and t thence through thepassage d', indu ction-port d, pass-over passage e, eduction-port d2,and escapes through the waste-water outlet d In washing the filteringmaterial it will be seen that nothing but filtered water is employed,and by avoiding the use of unfiltered water for that purpose, no impurewater is carried into the filteredwater chamber, where it would remainto contaminate the next inflow of filtered water. For the purpose ofcontinuing the purification of the water chemically, I preferablyconnect with the duplex filtering-chambers, hereinbefore described, athird filtering-cliamber which may be used or not at the option of thoseinterested. Said chamber consists of the removable cylinder M, which ispreferably filled with animal charcoal or other chemical purifier, andhas in its bottom a screen, m, which, while it will permit the water topass freely therefrom, will retain the charcoal in said chamber. Thebottom plate, m', of said cylinder is provided with a centralscrewthreaded opening, m?, having a bell-shaped mouth for the purpose ofguiding said opening to its place o n the pipe on which the cylinder Mis supported. Said cylinder is provided with a yoke or handle, m3,whereby it may be lifted when required. The cylinder M is inclosed in anouter casing, N, preferably made like the outer casings, B, hereinbeforedescribed, and, when fixed in place an annular water-way, u,

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is formed between said cylinder and outer casing. The thirdfiltering-chamber rests `upon `a valve-chamber, O, in which are formedtwo inlet water-passages, 0 and 0, and two outlet water-passages, o2 and03. The inlet water-passage ohas in its upper side an opening, o4, thatcommunicates with the inlet-passageo, and it has in its lowers'ide anopening, o5, which leads directly into the outlet-passage o3. Theopenings o4 and o5 are ranged in line oneabove the other, so that adouble-faced valve, P, will be adapted to close one of said openingswhen it reciprocally opens the other. An opening, o, leads from theoutlet water-passage o2 into the outlet water-passage 03, and a valve,Q, is fitted to close the `last-named opening when occasion requires. Astanding pipe, R, leads from the bottom of the cylinder M into theoutlet-passage o2 wit-hout forming a communication with the inletwater-passage o. VA pipe, S, (which surrounds thepipe R,`so as to forman annular water-way, 03) connects the lower end .of the outer casing,N, with the inlet water-passage o. The vdischarge-pipe L con'- nects thebase of the primary filtering apparatus with the inlet water-passage o,and the discharge-pipe T leads from the outlet waterpassage o3 to suchplace or places as it may be required.

Themas shown in Fig. l, the valve P is lowered to close the opening o5and the valve Q is raised to open the opening o6, the operation of thispart of my invention is as follows: The water from the primary filteringapparatus passes through the pipe L andenters the passage o, and thenpasses through the following course: Through the opening o4 and passageo', annular water-ways o" and n, and into the top `of the cylinderM,'passing downward through animal charcoal or other filtering materialcontained in saidcylinder. YThe purified water then passes through thepipe R, passage o2, opening o, and passage 03, and is'carried oftthrough the pipe T to any place where it may be required. th row thechemical puritierout of service, the valve P must be raised to vclosethe opening o4 and open the opening o5, as shown in Fig.- 5, and atthesaine time the valve Q must be lowered to close 4the opening o6.

l. Ina filtering apparatus, the combina? tion, with a base provided witha valve-seat having at oppositeiends=inductionports and an intermediateeduction-port, and a slide- Then thus arranged, the water from the pipeL will pass valve of insufiicient length to cover both of saidinduction-ports at the saine time, the said base containing iwoindependent unfiltered-water passages and a wasteiwater outlet, whichare separated from an underlying iltered-water chamber, also containedin said base, of two independent tiltering-cliainbers erected on saidbase, and each consisting of an inner cylinder for containing thefiltering material, and an outer casing which surrounds said innercylinder, so as to form an annular water-way between saidl cylinder andcasing, each of said inner cylinders being connected` by its own outletwater-pipe with the filteredwater chamber of the base, and each of saidcasings being connected by an independentinlet water-pipe with theunfilteredwater passage of said base, the filtered-water chamber of saidbase'being provided with an outlet-pipe for the 4filtered water, as andfor the purpose specified. Y

2. In a filtering apparatus, the combination ot' a filtering-chamber forcontaining animal charcoal or other purifying material, said chamberconsisting of an inner cylinder, M, and an outer casing, N, so as toform an annular water-way, fn, a base, O, provided with a lower inletwater-passage, o, an upper inlet water-passage, o', an upper outletwater-passage, 02, and a loweroutlet waterpassage, o3, said lower inletwater-passage yhaving through its upper side an opening, o4,

which communicates with said upper inlet water-passage, said lower inletwater-passage also having at itsl lower side an opening, o5, which leadsdirectly into said outlet waterpassage, the openings o4 and 05 beingdirectly opposite each other and having a doublefaced valve, P, fittedthereto and arranged to operateso as to reciprocally close one of saidopenings when the other is opened, the upper outlet Ywater-passage, o2,being connected to the lower outlet waterpassage, o3, by an opening,`06,in which a valve, Q, is fitted to close the communication between saidoutlet water-passages, the inner cylinder, M, being connected by a pipe,R, to the outlet waterpassage 02, and the outer casing, N, beingconnected by a pipe, S, tothe inlet waterpassage o, as and for thepurpose herein specified. l

3. In a filtering apparatus, a percolatingbed composed ofalternately-arranged reciprocating and stationary bars which are fittedsidev by side to forni leaky joints -through which the water will ooze,said reciprocating bars having an endwise movement and being so iittedin respect to said stationary bars as to always form a barrierto theescape of the filtering material, as and for the purpose hereinspecified.

JAMES H. BLEssINe.

y W'Vitnesses: f Y i J OHNNV. WHEELOCK, WM. H. Low.

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